Multiple-brush selector.



J. N. REYNOLDS.

MULTIPLE BRUSH SELECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1912 Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

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UNITED STATES PilENT aQiFFlClii.

JOHN NEW'BERRY REYNOLDS, OF GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 VJESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MULTIPLE-BRUSH SELECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Application filed November 16, 1912. Serial No. 731,771.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN NEWBERRY REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greenwich, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Multiple-Brush Selectors, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

This invention relates to switching apparatus for use in automatic or semi-automatic exchange systems, and more particularly to those switches in which electromagnetically controlled switching devices are employed and is adapted for use either as a selector or a connector.

By means of this invention a switch is provided by which a large number of lines may be accurately and rapidly served, and whereby any line may be reached through one of a plurality of multiply connected brushes on a common brush shaft, each brush having access to a particular group of lines only. F or this purpose there is provided a panel board upon which a plurality of vertical rows of sets of stationary terminals are mounted, each row being divided into sections and each section having a set of cooperative normally inactive movable brushes individual thereto, all the corresponding brushes of each row being connected in multiple. These rows of terminals may be multiplied horizontally across the panel to be accessible to as many individual switching mechanisms as may be necessary to handle the greatest number of simultaneous calls. a separate brush carrier mounted on a longitudinally movable brush shaft common to the entire group of brush sets corresponding to a single row of stationary terminals. In accordance with this invention the terminals of any desired line are reached by first causing the set of brushes having access to the section containing the desired line terminals to become active and then causing said set to traverse the terminals in this row until the desired terminals are reached.

One of the objects of this invention resides in the improved means for uniting the corresponding brushes in the several brush sets in multiple, and for extending Each set of brushes is carried by the telephone circuit to the multiply connected brushes.

Another object resides in the manner of mounting the brushes and in the means for rendering any desired brush active.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention progresses.

In the embodiment of my invention herein shown, all the brush carriers are fixed to the brush shaft to move therewith. To each brush carrier is pivotally secured a set of brushes in such a manner as to be normally rotated to a position to pass over the stationary terminals without engaging therewith. A brush selecting device is provided which is adapted to seize any desired brush set and cause the brushes thereof to assume a position in which they will, upon movement of the brush shaft, traverse the stationary terminals of their section while the other brush sets will remain inactive. The brush selecting means comprises an outwardly projecting lever on each brush set and a trip finger individual to each brush set pivotally secured to the frame. These trip fingers are arranged at progressively increasing distances above the normal position of their respective trip levers and are normally located slightly to one side of the line of travel of the trip levers. Means are provided whereby the brush shaft may be momentarily rotated to cause the trip lever to engage its respective trip finger and lock itself thereto in such a manner that the trip finger is drawn into the line of travel of the trip lever; thus it will be seen that if during the upward travel of the brush shaft at the instant the trip lever of any desired brush occupies a position slightly lower than its respective trip finger, the brush shaft is momentarily rotated, the trip finger will be locked to the trip lever of the desired brush set and the brushes will be drawn downwardly into operative position.

For a more detailed description of my invention reference is now made to the accompanying drawings in Which,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of my switches; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the brush shaft with parts broken away to show the arrangement of the conductors therein, and also showing more clearly the manner of mounting the brush set thereon; Fig. a is a perspective view of the tripping device; Fig. 5 is a side view of the same; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the auxiliary brush guide; Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88 of Fig. 1.

The switch here disclosed is designed to serve 500 lines, the terminals of which are divided into sections of 100 each and are duplicated on the opposite side of the board so as to be accessible to brushes on each side thereof as shown in Fig. 2. It is obvious, however, that the capacity of this switch may be increased by providing a greater number of sections and a correspondingly greater number of brushes, or by arranging more terminals in each section.

In order to avoid needless duplication of the parts and to more clearly illustrate the part of the apparatus claimed as my invention, only one switching device and a portion of one bank of stationary terminals are shown in the drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the stationary terminals are arranged in sets of three each as shown in Fig. 2, and that there are 100 of such sets in each section and five sections to a row. For each section a set of three brushes 1, 2-3 and 4: are provided, 2 and 3 being in effect one brush, adapted to engage the stationary terminals 5, 6 and 7, respectively, each set of brushes being adapted to engage all the sets of stationary terminals in its respective section only.

Each individual switching apparatus comprises a brush shaft 8, slidably mounted in the guides 9, secured in the frame members 10. Upon the shaft are secured a plurality of brush carriers 11, one for each stationary terminal section. These brush carriers are rigidly secured to the shaft by means of clamping rings 12 and the bolts 13. Each carrier has a pair of outwardly projecting cars it and 15 between which is secured the brush set structure by means of a pivot bolt 16. Each brush set comprises brush supporting arms 17, 18, 19 and 20 and clamping plates 21 and 22. The brush arms are insulated from each other and from the clamping plates by the insulating plates 23 with the exception of the arms 18 and 19, which, being in effect one arm electrically, are not thus installed. A sleeve 24 is provided by means of which the arms are insulated from the pivot bolt 16. Each of the arms has a right angular upward extension 25 ending in a soldering terminal 26. The several parts of the brush set are secured together by the screw 27, an insulating sleeve 28 being provided between said screw and the extensions on the brush supporting arms. The clamping plate 22 has a laterally and forwardly extending portion 39 hereinafter called a trip lever. To hold the brush in either its operative or inoperative position a spiral spring 29 is provided. This spring is secured at one end to an outwardly extending lug 30 on the side plate 22, and at the other end to a pin 31 on the brush carrier. It is thus so arranged that when the brush set is raised to its inoperative position the axis of the spring will as sume a position above the pivot bolt 16 and when the set is depressed to operative position, the spring will lie on the opposite side of the pivot bolt, thus tending to retain the brushes in either position.

Mounted on the frame adjacent to each of the brush sets is a plate 32 having a right angular upwardly projecting end 33. Mounted on the plate adjacent to the part 33 is a lug 31 upon the upper end of which a trip finger 35 is pivotally secured in a manner to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. A spring 36 tends to hold the rear end of the trip finger normally in engagement with the shoulder 37 on the plate Secured to the forward end of the trip finger is an inwardly projecting hook 38 which, under certain conditions to be hereinafter described, is adapted to engage the trip lever of its respective brush set to cause the set to assume an operative position. The outer ends of the hook members 38 are normally in alinement and rest slightly to one side of the line of travel of the trip levers 39, and they are arranged at progres sively increasing distances above their respective trip levers as shown in Fig. 1. It will now be seen that if the shaft is moved upward until the trip lever of any desired brush set occupies a position in a plane im mediately below its respective trip finger and is then momentarily twisted to position, the trip lever under the hook 38 of its respective trip lever 35, upon the continued upward move of the shaft the trip lever will lockingly engage the hook 38, and upon the shaft being immediately returned to its normal angular position the trip hook will be carried therewith and will assume a position in the line of travel of the trip lever. Upon the further continued upward movement of the shaft the brush set will be depressed to operative position and the trip lever passing from contact with the trip finger will allow the trip finger to be returned to its normal position by the spring 36.

T he rotation or twisting of the shaft 8 is accomplished by means of the trip magnet 4&1. Mounted adjacent to the magnet 41 on the support -12 is a bell crank lever 43 ha"- ing a. substantially horizontally projecting upper end 4 1 which carries the armature 45 of the magnet 41. The downwardly projecting arm 46 of the lever 43 engages the outwardly extending rib 47 on the shaft 8. It will thus be seen that upon energization of the trip magnet 41 the lower end of the arm 46 will be forced to the left as viewed in Fig. 1, carrying with it the rib 47 on the shaft 8, thus causing the trip levers to assume a position such that their line of upward travel would be intercepted by the several trip fingers 38. Upon observing the relation of the trip fingers to their respective trip levers at the moment the brush shaft is rotated, it will be seen that due to the arrangement of the fingers at different distances above the normal positions of their cotiperating trip levers, only the finger related to the desired brush will be engaged by a trip lever as the brush shaft immediately returns to its normal angular position. The upward movement of the shaft may be continued until the desired terminals are reached. The shaft is elevated by its being gripped between the drive drum or pulley 50 on the constantly rotating shaft 51. and an idler pulley 52 located on the opposite side of the shaft. The pulley 52 is mounted on the upper end of the lever 53, which is pivotally secured to the frame member 54 and to the lever 55 by the pivot pin 56. A stop pin 57 isprovided on the lever 55 to limit the relative movement of the levers. A springw58 having one end secured to the lever 53 below its pivot point, and the other to the downwardly projecting lug 59 on the lever 55 tends to retain the lever 53 in engagement with the stop pin 57. The tension of this spring may be adjusted by the screw-threaded hook 60 and the nut 61. On one side of the lever 55 adjacent to the poles 62 of the clutch magnet 63 is an armature 6 L, normally held in its retracted position by gravity. A screw 65 is provided to adjust the normal distance of the armature from the poles. Thus, when the magnet 63 is energized it acts through the lever 55, spring 58, lever 53 and idler pulley 52 to force the shaft into engagement with the drive pulley 50 whereby the shaft is elevated to cause the brushes of the selected set to traverse the terminals in its respective section. Current for the clutch magnet may be controlled indirectly through the cooperation of the brushes 66 and 67 with the interrupters 68 and 69 and the conducting strip 83. The brush 66 and the interrupter 68 transmit impulses to the sending mechanism (not shown) by means of which the primary movement of the shaft during brush selection may be controlled, and the same brush and the interrupter 69 transmit impulses to measure the travel of the selected brush set over the terminals in a manner clearly disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 637,435, filed July 8, 1911. While I have shown but one elevating means for the brush shaft, in practice preferably two such means of dilferent speeds will be employed, and an additional interrupter and brush for the control of the additional elevating means will be provided as described in my above mentioned co-pending application. When the desired terminal has been reached, the upward travel of the shaft will be arrested by the deenergization of the clutch magnet,

the shaft being held in its elevated position by the armature release pawl 70, engaging the rack 71 on the shaft 8. This pawl is pivotally mounted in the frame at 72 and is urged toward the rack by the spring 73. When release is desired, the release magnet 74 is energized retracting the armature pawl 70, and releasing the brush shaft which is returned to normal by gravity, or in any desired manner.

In order that the selector brush set may be returned to its inactive position upon the return of the brush shaft to normal, an outward, upwardly projecting lug 75 from the plate 32 is provided, which, lying in the path of travel of trip lever of the brush sets at the lower end thereof, will engage the trip lever 39 at the lower end of its travel in such a manner as to rotate the brush set upwardly to its retracted position as will be I evident from an examination of Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. In order that the tripped brushes may readily and smoothly pass on to the lowermost stationary terminals, guiding means are provided therefor during their preliminary travel. This guiding means comprises a metal comb 86 which has the body portions 84 secured adjacent to and parallel with the lowermost terminal strip, the teeth 85 being bent near their inner ends at right angles to the plane of said body portion so as to extend in alinement with the several rows of stationary terminals, respectively.

The brush shaft 8 is hollow and the wires 76, 77 and 78 are located therein. Branches latively secured to the brush shaft. These 7 arms each carry a spring finger 81 adapted to slidably engage one of the insulated conducting plates 82, respectively, thus provid ing means whereby the telephone circuit may be extended to the several brush sets and the corresponding brushes of these sets connected in multiple without the use of a pair of wipers individual to each brush as previously employed in similar constructions.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim is:

1. In a telephone switch, a hollow brush shaft, a plurality of sets of brushes mounted thereon, electrical conductors in said shaft for connecting corresponding brushes in multiple, a conducting plate individual to each. conductor, and wipers carried by said shaft adapted to electrically connect each of said conductors to its respective conducting plate.

2. In a telephone switch, a longitudinally movable brush shaft, a plurality of normally inactive brushes pivotally secured thereto,

a. plurality of relatively stationary brush selecting devices and means whereby one of said devices may be made operative to ren der active any one of said brushes.

3. In a telephone switch, frame members, a longitudinally movable brush shaft carried thereby, a plurality of normally inactive brushes secured to said shaft on pivots transverse thereto, brush selecting devices mounted on said frame members and means whereby one of said devicesmay be made operative to render active any one of said brushes.

4. In a telephone switch, a brush shaft, a plurality of multiply connected sets of brushes pivotally mounted thereon, said brushes being normally rotated toward said shaft; in, the plane thereof to inoperative position, means for moving said shaft longitudinally, and tripping means actuated during such movement as to cause any desired brush set to be moved from said shaft to its operative position.

5. In panel switch, a longitudinally movable brush shaft, a plurality of normally retracted brushes pivotally secured thereto to rotate in a common plane, means for causing a rotary movement of said shaft and means actuated by said movement whereby any brush may be tripped into operative position.

6. In a switch, a rotatable and longitudinally movable brush'shaft, a plurality of brushes pivotally secured thereto, a trip fin ger for each brush respectively, and means for momentarily rotating said shaft for operatively engaging a predetermined brush with its respective trip finger.

7. In a switch, a rotatable and longitudinally movable brush shaft, a plurality of brushes pivotally secured thereto to rotate in a plane with said shaft, a trip finger for each brush respectively, and means for momentarily rotating said shaft for operatively engaging a predetermined brush with its respective trip finger. I

8. In a switch, a frame, a brush shaft rotatably mounted thereon, a plurality of normally inactive brushes pivotally secured to said shaft, trip levers carried by said brushes respectively, a trip finger on said frame individual to each brush, and means for rotating said shaft for operatively engaging the trip lever of a predetermined brush with its respective trip linger.

9. In a switch, a frame, a longitudinally movable brush shaft rotatably mounted thereon, a plurality of normally inactive brushes pivotally secured to said shaft, trip fingers on said frame for said brushes, respectively, arranged at progressively increasing distances above the normal position of said brushes, said fingers being normally out of the line of travel of said brushes, and means whereby a predetermined brush may be caused to operatively engage its respective trip finger during the longitudinal travel of said shaft.

10. In a switch, a frame, an axially movable brush shaft rotatably mounted thereon, a plurality of normally inactive brushes pivotally secured to said shaft, a corresponding plurality of pivotally mounted trip fingers on said frame, said fingers being normally out of the line of travel of said brushes, and means whereby a predetermined brush may be caused to engage its respective trip finger and rotate the same into the normal line of travel of said brush to trip the same.

11. In a switch, a movable brush shaft, a plurality of normally inactive brushes pivotally mounted thereon, a plurality of trip fingers arranged at progressively increasing distances above said brushes at one side of their normal line of travel, and means for rotating said shaft whereby a predetermined brush may be caused to operatively engage its respective trip finger.

12. In a switch, a rotatable and longitudinally movable shaft, a plurality of brush sets pivotally mounted thereon, a trip lever carried by each brush set, apivotally mounted trip finger individual to each trip lever adjacent to the line of travel thereof, said trip fingers being at progressively increasing distances above the normal positions of their respective trip levers, means for moving said shaft longitudinally, and means for momentarily rotating said shaft during such longitudinal movement whereby the trip lever of a desired brush set may be caused to operatively engage its respective trip finger.

13. In a switch, a plurality of sets of stationary terminals arranged in rows, a set of brushes arranged to traverse said termi nals, and preliminary guiding means for said brushes comprising a plate having teeth projecting angularly therefrom in alinement with said rows of terminals respectively.

14. In a switch, a plurality of sets of sta- In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe tionary terminals arranged in rows, a set my name this 14th day of November A. D.,

of brushes adapted to traverse said terminals, and a brush guide comprising a plate 1912. arranged adjacent to and parallel with the JOHN NEWBERRY REYNOLDS. lowermost terminal and teeth pro ecting \Vitnesses:

from said plate in alinement with said rows \VALTER F. HOFFMAN, of terminals respectively.

(a). D. M. GUTHE.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington D. C." 

